Broadway’s ‘The Color Purple’ Will Close in January

AdminNovember 6, 2016Views 14

“The Color Purple,” the Broadway production that won the 2016 Tony Award for best musical revival, will close in January after 14 months on the boards.

The show, which also earned an acting trophy for lead actress Cynthia Erivo, was a hit with critics and awards voters, but it never quite became a runaway success at the box office. The musical did have very strong weeks — it topped $1 million a week over the holidays — but in general its weekly totals ran a wide gamut, sometimes slipping down toward $550,000. In recent months, the production’s sales have come in between $600,000 and $700,000 per week.

Following its initial reviews when it opened in December, the revival earned a second batch of high-profile raves in May when Heather Headley, the Broadway favorite who won a Tony for her turn in “Aida,” stepped into the role originally played by Jennifer Hudson in the production. Jennifer Holliday took over the same role earlier this month, joining a cast that also includes Danielle Brooks (“Orange is the New Black”).

“The Color Purple” hasn’t yet recouped it capitalization costs. If the production still hasn’t made it into the black by the time it closes on Broadway, producers will get a second chance to earn some money when a North American tour of the production launches in fall 2017.